The three quarters of the year 2008 Status Report

I want to thank those that have sent me suggestions on what to do about woodpeckers. As you can see by the picture on the right, I am under attack. I have lived in this house for over two years and this is the second year in a row that I have problems with woodpeckers. I have since found out that woodpeckers are migratory birds and, apparently, my house is nice and tasty. Sort of like a Shoney's Big Boy. For woodpeckers. I need to patch it for the winter as the holes in the house go all the way through.

Did you ever have the dream of partying all night and waking up the next day only to realize you have to take your mid-term that day? (Actually, that sort of happened to me once when I was going for my MBA. I miscalculated the number of weeks in a class and showed up not studying for one minute of a mid-term we were having that night!) Anyway, that's the way I am feeling as I will embark on coming up with excuses of a lifetime and explanations of why I didn't keep my 2008 New Year's resolutions. Maybe it isn't all that bad. Tell me when I can open my eyes again!

Eat healthier--I made steps toward this. In my January 8th blog, I mentioned that I discovered Quaker Oats Whole Grain Cereal and that I would try eating that a few times a week to start. I am happy to say that I have kept up with that and continue to eat this cereal about two or three times each week. I wrote this in May and, surprisingly, have kept this up for the most part. I am more likely to do this when I work from home, though. I don't think I will ever eat 'healthy'. But I've been able to maintain my weight all year. As a matter of fact, I'm proud to say that I am the same weight as I was 20 years ago.

Now my next big thing to tackle is to start making home-made smoothies. I've read that, as long as you don't add protein, this is a great subsitute for a snack. Looking for some good recipes if anyone has ideas. This idea didn't last long as I was finding out that smoothies don't last long in the refrigerator. And, yes, I have fall victim to the 100-calorie packs of stuff. Currently, it's the 100-calorie popcorn and the 100-calorie caramel which I use when I eat apples in the fall. I do find that it's 'just enough'.

Smarter exercise--...when I was doing the core training, results were pretty fast. So, realistically, maybe I can do core training for specific events and not all year round? This is what I wrote back in May. And, I have thought about this all summer. I have started to do the core training for the Harrisburg marathon and hope it will be enough so I can beat 5 hours this time out.

Beat my 5k PR--Realistically, I'm running out of chances for this spring. I plan on doing the Doylestown 'Red, White and Blue' 5k this Saturday, which will be my last 5k this spring. But, I've never run this course. I need to find a flat, fast course in the fall to get this monkey off my back. If only I knew then what I know now. As the Doylestown RWB 5k was as close as I ever got to beat my 5k PR. Ever. I missed it by 1 second. On a hilly course. I ran a 5k this past Saturday but it was to pace my wife in the race and it was 'warm up' for the 18 miles I had to run that day for my long run. Right now, I don't have plans on any races after Harrisburg, But, find me a flat, fast 5k and you might, maybe, be able to talk me into it.

Concentrate on Falmouth--Broad Street is over. This is what I'll be thinking about all summer. Steve better be ready this year. Steve didn't run it this year. Because of it, I lost my motivating factor to concentrate on Falmouth. And, it was a bad week leading up to the race. On the positive side, I did better than I did last year. (By the way, if you are a baseball fan and were watching the Red Sox-Rays baseball game yesterday, you probably saw Steve at the game about 10 rows up to the right of home plate. I was watching the game and saw someone who looked exactly like Steve and his son. So, of course, I called him. And, yes, it was him. I won't call him again if I see him. Because the Sox lost. Obviously, I'm a jinx.)

A better blog--I played a little with the poll. It's a fun thing to do from time to time. I can do a little more on the right side of the blog. I like to see what others do in their running blogs and try to get ideas to incorporate into mine. I don't do as much as the polling thing as I had done earlier in the year. And, I try to be 'competitive' on my blog. I will look at a blog and ask myself, 'how did they do that? 'I want that for my blog!' I am very jealous of the 'more creative than me' people that are out there. But, it keeps me thinking on ways I want to improve what I have to stay 'competitive'.

Continue to have fun with running--I'm hoping to be able to take my gear into work and stop and do some 3 mile runs on my way home from time to time. I'm happy to say this is part of my regular routine. On Tuesdays, I will bring my gear into work and run a 3+ mile route next to Lincoln Drive, which is right next to the Wissahickon Creek. It is a lovely part of Philadelphia and serene even though you can see the traffic on the Drive. I am also running, about once a week, with my wife. She is starting to get into 5ks and I want to encourage her to keep doing it.

Get new running shoes--(TZ Sports) had a pair of Brooks GTS 7s that I bought, and, so far, seem to be the replacement I've been looking for. I'll run in them for the next few weeks. If they still feel comfortable, then I might have to look in stocking up for the next few years. I am still not 100% convinced the GTS 7s will be my running shoes for years and I should stock them up now. They are good. I like the ones I have. But, they are not my GTS 5s. Nothing ever fit me better.

Follow through--I still need a lot of work on this. My journal entries in my running diary have been inconsistent. I don't put things a way at home that I should. I try to make sure I follow up with people after they've contacted me. I'm trying to get better at this. Just to need to keep reminding myself about this one. . As this recap was suppose to be done in September, I guess I'm keeping this one as a 2009 New Year's resolution.

Is it really just 2 1/2 months until the end of the year?

(Notes: I just discovered this coincidence recently. I am not affiliated nor have taken my blog name from 'Blue Dawg Blog', http://bluedawgblog.wordpress.com/ which is a political blog. Again, my blog name is derived from a restaurant where our group meets, on occasion, after a long, tough run to quench our thirst.)